More than $110,000 could be saved per year per offender if non-violent indigenous offenders were diverted to drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs, a report by Deloitte Access Economics said.
A further $92,000 per offender could be saved in the longer term through lower mortality and better health, according to the report commissioned by the Indigenous Drug and Alcohol Committee of the Australian National Council on Drugs (ANCD).
ANCD chairman John Herron said he hoped the report would spur authorities to take action through the Council of Australian Governments.
Dr Herron said a good place to try the proposal first could be the ACT, where the government already wanted to introduce a prison-based needle and syringe exchange.
"The ACT has been more receptive to progressive activity in this regard. Even if the ACT government did it as a forerunner - although you've already built your new prison - it can be shown that there are savings by putting people into rehabilitation,'' he said.
Dr Herron said it did not make sense for Australian governments to spend $3 billion a year on prisons.
"The cost of getting somebody into treatment was about $60,000 a year. And it was just a no-brainer - half of those didn't reoffend,'' he said.
"The system just goes on and on and we're building more prisons all the time. It's just absurd, particularly with indigenous offenders, where 70 per cent of them are effectively intoxicated, or on drugs when they commit an offence.
"We're not taking about violent offenders - we're only talking about people who are in for non-violent charges.''
The Deloitte Access report found that indigenous offenders were less likely than other offenders to be diverted by courts to drug and alcohol treatment facilities.
In 2009, just 10 out of 17,859 people diverted by courts to drug and alcohol treatment were indigenous.
In 2011, about 7600 of the 29,000 prisoners in Australia were Aborigines or Torres Strait Islanders.
Tuesday, February 05, 2013
RTBU: Pacific National Strike
A Dispute between train drivers and Pacific National, the biggest coal carrier in NSW, has escalated with workers to strike and the company cutting its pay offer.
The Rail Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) said it has notified the company it will stage a 24-hour strike from noon on Friday. Over 80% of members voted to strike to bring Pacific National back to negotiations.
Pacific National Coal, which walked out of talks last week after 13 months of negotiations, said it would reduce its offer of a 4 per cent per year salary increase over three years to 3 per cent each year over the same period.
RTBU national secretary, Bob Nanva, said it had ''no option other than industrial action'' after Pacific National walked out of negotiations.
Pacific National Coal director David Irwin said a 24-hour shutdown would prevent 300,000 tonnes of coal from reaching port.
In an unprecedented attack on the rights of workers, two mining companies have threatened legal action against the RTBU over the potential Pacific National Coal protected industrial action.
Xstrata Coal NSW, which is not involved in salary negotiations, sent a letter to the union threatening to take legal action if workers strike. Whitehaven Coal has also threatened to make a complaint.
Loco Division Secretary Bob Hayden said the threat is an outrageous attack on the rights of workers.
“Workers deserve fair pay and conditions – we’re certainly not going to accept an agreement that compromises on safety. The mining companies should be going to Pacific National and asking why they haven’t been willing to agree to a last ditch attempt to a negotiated settlement as offered by the RTBU, not threatening workers who are just trying to get a fair go,” Bob Hayden said.
“Workers don’t want to have to take industrial action, but the company has left us with no choice but to go down that path. Any action we take will be protected industrial action that has been approved by Fair Work Australia.
“It’s outrageous that these big mining companies are now also trying to bully us into accepting an inferior agreement.”
RTBU National Secretary Bob Nanva told the Sydney Morning Herald that it was ”unheard of” for a third party not directly involved in an industrial dispute to threaten legal action.
”This is a co-ordinated assault on the right of union members to collectively bargain and strike,” he said. ”This is a forerunner to what will happen if Tony Abbott is elected prime minister. These companies are straining at the leash and desperately want to bring back WorkChoices.”
The Rail Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) said it has notified the company it will stage a 24-hour strike from noon on Friday. Over 80% of members voted to strike to bring Pacific National back to negotiations.
Pacific National Coal, which walked out of talks last week after 13 months of negotiations, said it would reduce its offer of a 4 per cent per year salary increase over three years to 3 per cent each year over the same period.
RTBU national secretary, Bob Nanva, said it had ''no option other than industrial action'' after Pacific National walked out of negotiations.
Pacific National Coal director David Irwin said a 24-hour shutdown would prevent 300,000 tonnes of coal from reaching port.
In an unprecedented attack on the rights of workers, two mining companies have threatened legal action against the RTBU over the potential Pacific National Coal protected industrial action.
Xstrata Coal NSW, which is not involved in salary negotiations, sent a letter to the union threatening to take legal action if workers strike. Whitehaven Coal has also threatened to make a complaint.
Loco Division Secretary Bob Hayden said the threat is an outrageous attack on the rights of workers.
“Workers deserve fair pay and conditions – we’re certainly not going to accept an agreement that compromises on safety. The mining companies should be going to Pacific National and asking why they haven’t been willing to agree to a last ditch attempt to a negotiated settlement as offered by the RTBU, not threatening workers who are just trying to get a fair go,” Bob Hayden said.
“Workers don’t want to have to take industrial action, but the company has left us with no choice but to go down that path. Any action we take will be protected industrial action that has been approved by Fair Work Australia.
“It’s outrageous that these big mining companies are now also trying to bully us into accepting an inferior agreement.”
RTBU National Secretary Bob Nanva told the Sydney Morning Herald that it was ”unheard of” for a third party not directly involved in an industrial dispute to threaten legal action.
”This is a co-ordinated assault on the right of union members to collectively bargain and strike,” he said. ”This is a forerunner to what will happen if Tony Abbott is elected prime minister. These companies are straining at the leash and desperately want to bring back WorkChoices.”
Single Parents Protest: 5th February 2013
Stop Cuts to Sole Parent Payments!
Single parents, their children and supporters plan a National Protest on 5th February 2013 as the impacts of the government`s controversial legislation starts to hurt families.
Moving house, giving up the family car, cancelling children's sport, relinquishing the family pet, skipping meals and not filling medication scripts are some of the harsh outcomes.
The National Council of Single Mothers and their Children Inc who have strongly opposed this legislation is not surprised that the anger and angst has now turned into action.
Terese Edwards CEO, states ‘that many families did not know how fierce the impact would be or how much pain and loss it would cause until it became the lived reality'.
The National Protest will commence at Old Parliament House @ 9.30am and walk to Parliament House arriving at 11am.
Simultaneous action will be held around the nation:
Concerned Australians are invited to sign an online petition. www.gopetition.com/petitions/parenting-payment-for-families-not-the-dole.html
Single parents, their children and supporters plan a National Protest on 5th February 2013 as the impacts of the government`s controversial legislation starts to hurt families.
Moving house, giving up the family car, cancelling children's sport, relinquishing the family pet, skipping meals and not filling medication scripts are some of the harsh outcomes.
The National Council of Single Mothers and their Children Inc who have strongly opposed this legislation is not surprised that the anger and angst has now turned into action.
Terese Edwards CEO, states ‘that many families did not know how fierce the impact would be or how much pain and loss it would cause until it became the lived reality'.
The National Protest will commence at Old Parliament House @ 9.30am and walk to Parliament House arriving at 11am.
Simultaneous action will be held around the nation:
- Adelaide: 10am united walk from Victoria Square to Parliament House arriving at 11am.
- Brisbane: 11am gathering at Parliament House.
- Cairns: 10.30am united walk from Shields & Lake St to Senator McLucas's office arriving at 11am.
- Darwin: 11am gathering at Parliament House.
- Hobart: 10am united walk from St Davids Park to Parliament Lawn arriving at 11am.
- Melbourne: 11am gathering at Parliament House.
- Newcastle: 9.30am a united walk from Centrelink to Hon Grierson`s office (11am) and then to the Trades Hall arriving at 11.30am.
- Perth: 11am gathering at Parliament House.
- Sydney: 11am gathering at Martin Place.
Concerned Australians are invited to sign an online petition. www.gopetition.com/petitions/parenting-payment-for-families-not-the-dole.html
Monday, February 04, 2013
Japan: Scientific money laundering
Japan has begun injecting new tax-payer-funded subsidies into its whaling program in a bid to keep the fleet afloat.
It is believed the "profitable fisheries program" is helping to keep the so-called scientific research program's ongoing debts at bay and to help refit the whaling fleet's flagship.
The Refusal of Japanese to eat whale meat, means the government has been forced to prop up the whaling program.
Some of the money has come from funds set aside for the rebuilding of communities shattered by the 2011 tsunami.
"This subsidy is supposed to help fishermen in financial trouble," investigative journalist Junko Sakuma said.
"Now it's propping up the unprofitable whaling fleet, and if they keep running a loss, they won't even have to pay it back."
Patrick Ramage, the whale program director at the International Fund for Animal Welfare, will release a report into just how the Japanese whaling industry is propped up financially.
"The most important finding of this new report is really three things: first, that whaling is an economic loser in the 21st century, second, that the Japanese people have lost their appetite for whale meat, and third that whale watching rather than whale killing is the economically beneficial whale industry for the 21st century," he said.
Even the strongest supporters of whaling in Japan are pessimistic about the future of the hunt, especially with the government forced to pump in more subsidies into the fleet to keep it afloat.
Masayuki Komatsu is a former Japanese delegate to the International Whaling Commission and one of the architects of the country's scientific research program.
He warns that the injection of this new subsidy is a sign that program is in big trouble.
"It's not sustainable, right. How long can you get such money from the government? Everybody likes money, particularly other people's money," he said.
It is believed the "profitable fisheries program" is helping to keep the so-called scientific research program's ongoing debts at bay and to help refit the whaling fleet's flagship.
The Refusal of Japanese to eat whale meat, means the government has been forced to prop up the whaling program.
Some of the money has come from funds set aside for the rebuilding of communities shattered by the 2011 tsunami.
"This subsidy is supposed to help fishermen in financial trouble," investigative journalist Junko Sakuma said.
"Now it's propping up the unprofitable whaling fleet, and if they keep running a loss, they won't even have to pay it back."
Patrick Ramage, the whale program director at the International Fund for Animal Welfare, will release a report into just how the Japanese whaling industry is propped up financially.
"The most important finding of this new report is really three things: first, that whaling is an economic loser in the 21st century, second, that the Japanese people have lost their appetite for whale meat, and third that whale watching rather than whale killing is the economically beneficial whale industry for the 21st century," he said.
Even the strongest supporters of whaling in Japan are pessimistic about the future of the hunt, especially with the government forced to pump in more subsidies into the fleet to keep it afloat.
Masayuki Komatsu is a former Japanese delegate to the International Whaling Commission and one of the architects of the country's scientific research program.
He warns that the injection of this new subsidy is a sign that program is in big trouble.
"It's not sustainable, right. How long can you get such money from the government? Everybody likes money, particularly other people's money," he said.
TWU: Qantas and Emirates partnership opposed
Unions are protesting against Alan Joyce's proposed partnership between Qantas and Emirates airlines.
Tony Sheldon, national secretary of the Transport Workers' Union (TWU), along with other union representatives is attending an Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) conference today.
Mr Sheldon said he would reiterate that the partnership is a bad deal on many fronts.
''It's bad for consumers, it's bad for the travelling public, it's bad for the economy and it's bad for the Australian workforce,'' he told reporters outside the conference in Sydney.
''Shrinking Qantas and handing over our national routes is putting our economic future into the hands of a Middle East carrier in a volatile part of the world.''
Independent senator Nick Xenophon, who is also giving evidence, said the deal would mean further job losses.
''We will see a shrinking of the Flying Kangaroo and further job losses,” he said ahead of the hearing.
Earlier this month the ACCC gave Qantas and Emirates the green light to prepare joint strategies for sales, marketing and pricing.
But the ACCC said that its interim authorisation of the partnership may be reviewed at any time and should not be seen as an indication of whether final approval will be given or not.
Tony Sheldon, national secretary of the Transport Workers' Union (TWU), along with other union representatives is attending an Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) conference today.
Mr Sheldon said he would reiterate that the partnership is a bad deal on many fronts.
''It's bad for consumers, it's bad for the travelling public, it's bad for the economy and it's bad for the Australian workforce,'' he told reporters outside the conference in Sydney.
''Shrinking Qantas and handing over our national routes is putting our economic future into the hands of a Middle East carrier in a volatile part of the world.''
Independent senator Nick Xenophon, who is also giving evidence, said the deal would mean further job losses.
''We will see a shrinking of the Flying Kangaroo and further job losses,” he said ahead of the hearing.
Earlier this month the ACCC gave Qantas and Emirates the green light to prepare joint strategies for sales, marketing and pricing.
But the ACCC said that its interim authorisation of the partnership may be reviewed at any time and should not be seen as an indication of whether final approval will be given or not.
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